ARF TO CELEBRATE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF WILSON
Lragir.am
13 June 06
The Armenian Revolutionary Federation is going to celebrate the 150th
anniversary of Woodrow Wilson, the 28th president of the United
States. The purpose of Dashnaktsutiun is not to please the United
States or to ask money for the challenges of the past millennium.
Simply Dashnaktsutiun considers Wilson to be a serious friend of the
Armenian people, stated Deputy Speaker Vahan Hovanisyan June 13.
According to him, Woodrow Wilson did not commit great deeds for
Armenians. Simply he was alone to set down the independence of Armenia
in a document, namely the treaty signed in Sevres, France.
Vahan Hovanisyan says the fact that the treaty did not come into
being is another question.

DOLLAR IN ARMENIA IS OBJECT OF SPECULATIONS
Lragir.am
13 June 06
The majority of the readers, who participated in the poll conducted
by the Lragir.am, think the exchange rate of the dollar drops due to
speculations. Over the past week we asked our readers the question
“What is the cause of depreciation of the dollar?” 69 percent pointed
to speculations, 26 percent voted the policy of the Central Bank. 5
percent think the depreciation of the dollar is caused by the world
market.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PEOPLE ARE MADE TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY
Lragir.am
13 June 06
On June 13 several members of parliaments representing different
political forces touched upon the depreciation of the dollar and
revaluation of the dram. Mher Shahgeldyan, Orinats Yerkir, says as a
result of the policy of revaluation of the dram the income of a major
part of the population they receive from their relatives working abroad
decreased. Victor Dallakyan, the secretary of the Ardarutiun Alliance,
expresses concern on the same matter. He cites the calculations of
economists: through exchange rate manipulations the population of
Armenia was robbed of over 300 million dollars.
Artashes Geghamyan, the leader of the National Unity Party, says
people lost more, about 460 million dollars. Member of Parliament
Tatul Manaseryan said the revaluation of the dram leads to a decline in
local production, which makes a great number of people leave Armenia
and work abroad.

LETTER TO THE KING OF RUSSIANS
Hakob Badalyan
Lragir.am
14 June 06
The Armenian society is writing a letter to Putin, the president of
Russia. Our intelligentsia announced this June 13 during a meeting at
the Writers Union. The list of participants allows judging about the
content of the letter, which is connected with the killings of Armenian
citizens in Russia. So, we may suppose that the letter is going to be
a little categorical, expressing a little concern, a little hard. In
other words, a little like a letter that intelligentsia may write to
the president of an inhospitable country.
The list of people who wrote the letter is prominent: Levon Ananyan,
the president of the Writers Union, Academician Vladimir Barkhudaryan,
Vladimir Aghayan, the Union of Armenians of Russia, Astghik Gevorgyan,
the president of the Union of Journalists, Garnik Ananyan, the dean
of the Department of Journalism of Yerevan State University.
After having read this list it is not difficult to imagine the content
of the letter. Putin cannot have received a tougher letter all through
his conscious life or scrutinized through the period of his life in
KGB. It is possible that the Armenian intelligentsia has announced
about the letter but has not published it to hide its toughness. Either
the letter is not ready yet or they want Putin to receive the letter
without knowing its content. The letter can be so hard and bold that
some trouble may befell to the mailman, preventing him from frightening
Putin. In the meantime, the mail carrier is going to be Seyran Avagyan
himself. Perhaps the cherished dream of the adviser to president
has come true, and he is already promoting small and medium-sized
businesses by his personal example, opening his own mail delivery
service. And judging by the choice of the mailman, we may reject the
thought that the Armenian intelligentsia is going to be hard on Putin.
The point is that Seyran Avagyan is the adviser to the president of
Armenia, and the representatives of the intelligentsia enumerated
above would not dare to risk the life of the adviser to the president
by placing in his hands a chilling letter addressed to Putin even
if a dozen of Armenians were killed at once. As for Seyran Avagyan,
he would not dare to deliver this letter, for it would be the first
and the last order of the mail delivery office, and the office would
“die” long before its registration.
On the other hand, the Armenian intelligentsia need not shock Putin
by a letter. The president of Russia will be shocked on hearing the
news that the Armenian intelligentsia decided to write him a letter.
It will be enough for Putin to call Armenia and find out if there had
been a change of power. Naturally, he will be immediately reassured.
They would not even allow Putin to call first. The top-level
Armenia-Russia phone calls are usually initiated by the Armenian
party. Only Robert Kocharyan must learn about the letter sooner
than Putin will receive it. Although in this sense too everything
is under control because the letter will be delivered by the adviser
to president. It is also possible that in Moscow they will deliver a
blank sheet of paper with the signatures of Armenian intelligentsia
to Putin. Let Vladimir Vladimirovich try to guess during the rest of
his office what the Armenian intelligentsia had meant to tell him.

LONGING FOR A WINNER GENERATION
Aram Zakaryan
Lragir.am
14 June 06
Once celebrating his victory in war German Chancellor Otto von
Bismarck, to everyone’s surprise, drank the first cup to German
teachers, who educated a winner generation, not the generals who had
won the war. I recalled this small but meaningful episode on June 13,
when several channels repeatedly broadcast the celebration of the
Last Bell at schools to advertise the Bargavach Hayastan Party.
First it should be noted that after the independence of Armenia
the school received so many blows that it can hardly stay on foot
if it has not fallen yet. Unfortunately, the statesmen have not
realized yet that using everything and everybody in politics is an
expression of fear rather than almightiness. And when they reach out
for school, it already threatens our future. Again unfortunately,
the adversarial political forces are identical in engaging school and
teachers in politics: they imitate and learn from one another. The
Republican Party, for instance, decided to enroll schools to use them
in the upcoming election, and launched a campaign of affiliation
of teachers with the party. The Bargavach Hayastan Party keeps up
with the Republican. If the Republican Party made several dozens of
teachers from one or two schools to affiliate with the Republican,
the BH decided to win over teachers and students of several dozens
of schools on the day of the Last Bell and to broadcast it all over
Armenia on several channels for several days on.
I would really be glad for our teachers and students if a political
party or a millionaire had perceived the social responsibility
of business. Whereas it became clear from the bows and words of
gratefulness of dozens of students and teachers that they had not.
Whereas it should have been the contrary, and everyone, including
oligarchs should be grateful to teachers.
Whereas we make a girl or a boy of 17 think that there is a more
important thing than knowledge and education. Charity is good when all
the social problems, including in the sphere of education, have been
solved. Charity is meaningless unless social problems are solved. And
in order to solve these problems, it is necessary to battle black
economy and corruption and pay taxes. Otherwise, school and teachers
appear in, a non-dignified state, to put it mildly. And we are still
longing for a winner generation.
Member of Parliament Victor Dallakyan once called pro-government
members of parliament not to deny people. Rephrasing his words,
we will say: do not deny teachers and students.

REVALUATED DRAM IS FORGED MORE
Lragir.am
14 June 06
The amount of discovered forged Armenian banknotes in 2005 is up by
8 percent compared with 2004, states the annual report of the Central
Bank of Armenia. Mostly 1000-dram bills are forged – 67 percent.
Next come the 5000 and 500-dram bills – 13.3 percent, 2.4 percent
are 20 thousand-dram bills and 200-dram coins.
The report also says that as on December 31, 2005 160 404.7 million
drams of paper money and 5159109 million drams in coins was circulated
in Armenia.

HUMAN FACTOR CAUSED CRASH OF A320?
Lragir.am
14 June 06
The International Civil Aviation Organization has almost finished
deciphering the parameters of the black boxes of the Armenian plane,
which had crashed near Sochi on May 3, an anonymous expert reported
to the Moskovski Komsomolets. However, the official data is not being
published. The anonymous expert told the newspaper that the cause of
the crash was the human factor. The newspaper says the suggestions
that the plane ran out of fuel or had technical problems were not
confirmed. Experts say the crew lost orientation in space, which may
happen when the pilot is distracted. The reason could be bad weather,
experts say. Currently, states the newspaper, the ICAO experts are
looking for mild phrases to soften the blow to the crew.

INTERESTS OF ARMENIA AND JAVAKHETI CLASH
Lragir.am
14 June 06
The Armenians of Javakheti consider the Kars-Akhalkalaki railroad a
matter of Turkish-Georgian relations, but since it is directly related
to the interests of Armenia, Javakheti is against this project. Shirak
Torosyan, the chair of Javakhk Association made this announcement
June 14 at the Pastark Club. “By the way, I should tell you that the
psychology of Armenians of Javakheti is interesting. All of us can
realize that the Kars-Akhalkalaki railroad runs through Javakheti, and
the economy of Javakheti will directly benefit from it. It is going
to be a transport junction, people can use it, jobs will be created,
trade routes will be found, and so on.
However, the Armenians of Javakheti are well aware that it is against
the interests of the motherland, so they are against it,” says Shirak
Torosyan. According to him, if a Javakheti Armenian were asked if they
would like the Kars-Akhalkalaki railroad to be built, he or she would
say no, because it is not in the interests of Armenia. If so, would the
Armenians of Javakheti take practical steps against the construction
of the railroad if the constructed began? Shirak Torosyan is reluctant
to speak about it now, he simply adds, “I think they would.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

WHO WILL REPLACE RUSSIAN TROOPS IN JAVAKHETI?
Lragir.am
14 June 06
Shirak Torosyan, the chair of Javakhk Association, says the people of
Javakheti protesting against the withdrawal of the Russian military
base are concerned about their security. He stated this June 14 at
the Pastark Club. Shirak Torosyan says the withdrawal of the Russian
military base is the problem of Russia and Georgia, and should be
settled by them. The chair of Javakhk Association says the Armenians
of Javakheti are concerned about the security gap that emerged after
the withdrawal of the Russian military base. Shirak Torosyan says the
presence of the Russian military base makes the Armenian population
of Javakheti feel more secure, therefore they are concerned about
who is going to replace the Russian troops.
Shirak Torosyan thinks that the presence of the Georgian military
force in Javakhk is unacceptable, for history showed that Georgian
soldiers do not behave properly, giving rise to problems with the local
population. “In other words, the presence of the Georgian troops will
be constantly threatening by skirmishes. This is evident.
If the NATO forces are stationed, it arouses concern that NATO member
Turkish troops may arrive here. This uncertainty worries the people
of Javakheti more than their unemployment,” says Shirak Torosyan.
According to him, the Russian military base was employment and a source
of income for many of them, but unlike the economic consequence that
the Armenians of Javakheti may solve through economic migration or
farming, the problem of security will persist.

WHICH PARLIAMENTARY FORCE WILL REPRESENT INTERESTS OF JAVAKHETI?
Lragir.am
14 June 06
Generally associations of compatriots should not become involved
in politics, but the circumstances are a little different, said the
chair of Javakhk Association Shirak Torosyan June 14 at the Pastark
Club. The circumstance is naturally the same association led by him,
because there is an issue of Javakheti. Therefore Javakhk Association
is not free from politics. Moreover, its chair is a member of the
Hzor Hayrenik Party. Hence, in the parliamentary election 2007 Shirak
Torosyan and his political party can rely on the support of about 300
thousand Javakheti Armenians living in Armenia, especially considering
the anxiety of the Armenians of Javakheti that the lawmakers of
Armenia have never raised the question of Javakheti.
The leader of Javakhk Association does not hide that the members of
their association want Hzor Hayrenik to represent the interests of
Javakheti in the next parliament. This political party is distinguished
by its moderate stance on the issue of Javakheti and is really
aware of its problems, because the leaders of the party come from
Javakheti. It is evident, however, that Hzor Hayrenik is one of the
few political parties which try to take up the issue of the Javakheti
Armenians. The Armenian Revolutionary Federation has been the most
active political party so far. The ARF is more active and also more
radical. Dashnaktsutiun often sets forward the question of sovereignty,
even independence. This is done even at the party leaders’ level.
We will get a full picture if we recall the point of view of an ARF
leader about “the third front.” Hence, the ARF can be the main opponent
of Hzor Hayrenik for 300 thousand votes of Javakheti Armenians living
in Armenia. Especially that these political parties have opposite
visions for the settlement of the issue of Javakheti.
The evaluation of Dashnaktsutiun’s approach given by Shirak Torosyan,
the chair of Javakhk Association and a member of the Hzor Hayrenik
Party, shows that competition will become more intensive.
The evaluation is in the form of a question. “If they are concerned
about the issue of Javakheti, why did they fail to raise it in the
parliament?” asks Shirak Torosyan.